Category: Family news/Updates

Last weekend we also headed into Frankenmuth for Grandma Dara’s 60th birthday!  It was nice getting everyone together and the kids picked out a plant for her birthday.

This past week we picked up school enrollment forms for Noomi!  We have a conference planned with her teacher next week so that we can discuss whether she should go into Young 5’s or Kindergarten.  I could see it going either way.  Academically, I think she would be fine in Kindergarten, but she has a late birthday and she’d be a lot younger than the other kids and emotionally she’s quite young.  Young 5’s still ride the bus to/from school, have gym and art.   They follow the kindergarten curriculum, it’s just a bit slower pace with more focus on social interactions, etc.

Ajax attended the PTSA meeting with me and behaved very well.  He was quite excited since that meant he didn’t get home and in bed till almost 9 pm.

On Saturday, the kids had swim lessons.  They both did great!  Ajax put his face in the water and was practicing using his arms.  Noomi claimed she knew how to swim and didn’t need the teacher to help her.  Noomi was also annoyed that her regular teacher was absent – he’s a young college student, lol.

I had to go into the office for a few hours after swimming and ordered all our groceries online so that Dave just had to swing by and pick them up.  On Saturday night we did pizza and a movie – Spiderman – and the kids loved it.

Today was quiet.  We cleaned and put laundry away.  Ajax finished his book report on James Cook.  He did a great job of it and typed it up himself.  He was excited to pick out the font.

Oh we also had a dentist appointment and it was hands-down Noomi’s best visit yet.  After watching Ajax (who is a pro) she jumped right into the chair and followed all the dentist’s instructions!

Goodness, I honestly hadn’t realized that I’d failed to update my blog for over a month. My last post was on Jan. 23rd.  Directly following that, however, President Dumb Dumb issued several Executive Orders relating to immigration and my work world came crashing down.  I’m just now getting my head above water and thought I’d update the blog as we’ve still been quite busy here at home.  In all fairness, I’ve been working late most days, hopefully that starts to even out though.

Let’s see… Ajax and I attended a mother-son dance at his school which was Jedi-themed.  Ajax was excited because we were out till almost 9 pm and he ate a ton of cookies and juice and ran wild with his friends.  He refused to dance with me though, lol.  Noomi had several playdates with friends from school and was so excited when I let her go to a friends house by herself without me (just down the street, lol).

Both kids also went out to Brooklyn for a weekend and even thought it’s winter the weather was sunny and 60 and the kids played in the hay and sand pit.  They had a great time.   When Ajax got home he felt a bit under the weather, so I took him to the doctor’s office.  He was fine, just some allergies.

Yesterday, while I was at a training in Dearborn, Dave took both kids to their first swim lesson at Goldfish in Okemos.  Dave was quite impressed with the place.  There’s a 4:1 teacher/student ratio and I have no doubt they’ll actually learn to swim this time around, lol.

Oh, we also had Valentine’s day in there as well.  I got up early and made pancakes for Ajax’s class and then hung out for his party.  Noomi’s class did a party, but parents were not invited.  Dave bought Noomi flowers and she was beyond excited.

Well, that about sums up our month.

Only a week left in January and of course it was hovering in the low 50s this past weekend.  No snow, only rain and lots of fog.  Michigan.  Global Warming.

On Saturday, Ajax and I headed into Detroit for the International Auto Show at Cobo.  We swung by Livonia and picked up my dad and cousin, Mike, before heading downtown.   When I was little my dad and I would go to the Auto Show every year, it was our thing and we loved it.  I was so excited to share it with Ajax and he enjoyed it as well.  Ajax said that his favorite were the big Ram trucks and Jeeps (of course).  He climbed into every vehicle he could and jumped up and down in the beds of the trucks.  Afterwards, we headed to our favorite restaurant in Mexican Town before heading home.  It was a great day.

While we were in Detroit, Dave and Noomi had a “princess day.”  Noomi picked out one of her fancy dresses and Dave took her for her first mani/pedi at a place in town.  Noomi was adorable and beyond thrilled.  She was also shy and refused to sit in the pink princess chair, instead she would only sit on Dave’s lap.   Several women asked Dave why he was doing princess day (the obvious being, why isn’t mom doing princess day) and he responded proudly that dad’s could do princess day as well, plus mom was at the Detroit Auto Show with the boy kid.

Afterwards, they got an oil change and checked out a new game store downtown.  Now, I realize the oil change place may not seem so cool for a 4 year old, but this place is different.  The guys that run the place love to give the kids suckers and always talk to the kids about their day.  Both kids love going to the oil change place, lol.

On Sunday, it was a quiet- grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry type of day.   Typical Sunday.  The neighbor kid came over to play, but that was about it.

Oh and the idiot man child Donald Trump was sworn in as our 45th President of the United States on Friday… Mad Max Days be a Comin’.

 

What a busy weekend.

On Saturday, Dave and I took the kids to a bouncy place which they loved.   They ran wild for a few hours and then we took them out to eat (where they played on the indoor playscape) and then we came home to crash.  Emily and I went shopping, while Dave and the kids hung out at home.

On Sunday, the kids and I headed to Brooklyn for a BBQ.   Dave unfortunately stayed home with a migraine.   The kids ate a bunch of junk, ran wild, played with horses, and generally had a great time.  On the way home Ajax passed out, but Noomi talked almost the entire ride home.  She talked about tornadoes, her pet deer that eats worms, zombies, and how much she liked being a baby in my tummy.

On Monday, we got the garden in, planted some flowers, and did some general yard work.  We also set up a sprinkler in the front yard and the neighborhood kids ran wild.   Overall, a wild, tiring weekend.

Today was Noomi’s last day of three year old preschool, she was so excited this morning.  All she talked about was her party and her friends.  We have been so happy with the Little Hornets program at the school, she’s done wonderful there and we found out that the same teacher will be there next year as well.

I had the day off, so as I was driving the kids to school Noomi suddenly freaked out in the backseat: MOM! I have hair on my legs!  She started to panic and I assured her that we all had hair on our legs.  She demanded to see my leg as well, which was not possible since I was driving, so Ajax leaned over to show her his arm (cool big brother).   For some reason, it seems Noomi has had some very odd epiphany’s a bit late in the game (for example, that one’s fingers get pruny after long baths, that people have hair on their legs/arms, etc).

Today was Ajax’s last day for Mileage Club and he’s logged around 23 miles in about 2 months.  He and I ran 2/3 of a mile and I was quite tired after that, as it was about 85 degrees out.  He loves to run and we are so proud of him.  He also earned his orange belt in karate and he was very excited.  It was his last class and we were excited that he went out on a high note, lol.  The kids will start swim lessons in June per our one thing at a time rule.

A few updates going on over here, apologize for the delay.

Ajax is wrapping up karate.  We decided with summer coming on and Dave’s hectic work schedule we’d take a break this summer.  We signed the kids up for swim lessons this summer anyways and our rule is – one activity at a time.  He doesn’t seem to mind either way and is already taking about soccer, lol.

Noomi is also finishing up creative movements.  Her recital is next weekend and we’re predicting that, although she’ll be forced onto the stage she’ll probably freeze and sit on the ground.   We’ll most likely sign her up for dance again in the Fall as she does appear to enjoy it.

On the family front- we had the Ice Cream Social at the school which the kids loved.  Noomi, however, freaked out and refused to go on a pony ride (who refuses a pony ride? the pony was adorable and its name was Snuggle or Snickers or something like that).  Dave has been working a ton and recently took at 3 day work trip to Canada.   Grandma Dara was in the hospital for a few days in Alpena so Dave went up north this past weekend.  We didn’t take the kids as – 1. Grandma needs rest and quiet, and 2. We didn’t want to overly scare the kids.  We did tell them that Grandma was in the hospital, but doing ok, and that was enough to concern Ajax who understands that going to the hospital means something. Update – Grandma is doing well and out of the hospital.

When Dave was up north the kids and I did our usual home routine- cleaning, shopping, etc.  We also went to the park on Saturday to volunteer and did a couple hours of work staining and cleaning.

On a side note – now that Ajax is able to go outside on his own (the big 7) he and the neighborhood kids are running amoke.  He and his little buddy, Sam, are all over the place. Currently, they are building a stick fort in the backyard.

Noomi is too young to be out by herself, but so far she hasn’t minded being home with me. She has, however, been telling some wild stories.  For example, the other night at dinner she kept talking about her big sister and how, unfortunately, her big sister died.  Ajax and I stared at her agasp- No Noomi No!  But Noomi said, oh yea, I do and she died… my cat also died.  Noomi no, we said, that’s terrible no one died.  We went around and around with Ajax getting more and more upset.     So there you go.

Pictures will be forth coming.

 

 

Last week Ajax took his belt test and was bumped up to a yellow belt.  He can count to 10 in Korean and can do blocking set 2 solo (I imagine in 6 months I will completely forget what that entails).   As he’s a yellow belt and just turned 7, Master Shinn bumped him up into the next class and I must say it’s a bit more intense than Tiger Tots.  Like a lot more intense and Ajax is a bit lost.  It’s almost like there should have been an intermediate step between the two classes.  Oh well, Ajax appears to be enjoying it and we only plan on keeping him in it till the end of May.  With summer coming things get so hectic we won’t have the time for it anyhow.

Here are some pictures from his test –

This past weekend Noomi and I hit the road with my folks and headed to Fort Wayne, IN, to visit family and see my cousin in a ballet performance.  Noomi was so excited to see the ballot and my cousin’s recital was wonderful!  My aunt also surprised Noomi with a ballot outfit, tutu, and sparkly shoes.  Noomi was in heaven, lol.   She actually had a bit too much fun because on Sunday she napped for four hours straight.

While we were gone, the guys ordered pizza and a movie.  They put together a Lego set and worked outside.  Ajax also ran a bit wild through the neighborhood with the other kiddos and had a general good time.  Apparently he also dug several holes and made a mud city with the little boy down the street.  His shoes are a mess.

I need to take a moment to share with you this cinnamon roll recipe because it is wonderful. Simply wonderful. As a matter of fact it has now been included in our Family Favorite recipe book.   Ajax requested them for his birthday breakfast and then devoured three.  The recipe is from Pioneer Woman and I highly recommend it!

Here’s the link- http://bit.ly/1N4nMkM

This recipe did make seven pans of rolls so we ended up freezing some and the maple frosting is incredible!

 

How on earth do I have a 7 year old?   Well we do and he is one cool kiddo.  This year was his family party so we had the usual suspects over!  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin!  We started this morning with homemade cinnamon rolls per his request.  One’s birthday breakfast is a big deal in this home.  Usually it involves sprinkle pancakes, but this year Ajax surprised us with cinnamon rolls.  I must say they were awesome!  As it was his birthday we let him eat as many as he wanted.  He finished 3 and Noomi had 2.5.  Could not believe it.

Ajax of course asked for a Stars Wars party because that is his favorite thing right now.   Legos and Stars Wars, that’s a big part of our conversation these days, lol.   Ajax had a great party and didn’t get hardly as embarrassed with everyone sang happy birthday.  Thank you everyone!   Both kids got light sabers and were thrilled beyond words.  Noomi bought Ajax a Darth Vader action figure for Ajax.  She went up and down the aisles at the store for the longest time and when she saw the toy, she snatched it up – oh he’ll love this!   Well, let’s be honest Noomi loves Vader but Ajax seemed to like it as well.